A high pressure gaseous fueled vehicle, powered, for example, by engine or fuel cell powered by CNG or hydrogen gas, requires an extended driving range. A gas absorbent installed within the vehicle fuel gas tanks will increase the gas storage amount with respect to a given tank volume. In general, however, the absorbent releases heat during refueling and may need to absorb heat during driving so that gas within the absorbent may be released. In a quick refill of a high pressure tank, heat generated during refueling is considerable when a short time refill is attempted. There is a need for an absorbent media structure for installation within the tank and a corresponding method for installing a gas absorbent media within a high pressure tank—whereby heat transfer to and from the gas within the tank during the various modes of vehicle operation is not compromised and the internal volume of the tank is efficiently packed with absorbent media.
It is an object of the invention to install the absorbent in the tank; to transfer heat from gas filling the absorbent during refill; to transfer (namely, both absorbing and releasing, as required by vehicle mode condition (refill or driving)) heat from the absorbent to the outside of the tank; and to provide an assembly of the media within the tank while accomplishing the foregoing objects.